My childhood best friend
by StevieScissorLuv
Summary: There was one kid that turned up to young Barney's 8th birthday party, Barney's childhood best friend (Talia Gemstone) turns up at his apartment needing somewhere to stay and she may end up becoming part of his small group.
1. Talia Gemstone

_**Hey everyone here is my first attempt at a How I met your mother fanfiction so go easy on me.**_

_**This is before Barney and Robin got engaged, it's after the episode 'cleaning house'.**_

_**Barney may seem a bit OOC at first but as the story goes on it will hopefully make more sense.**_

_**Hope you like.**_

_**Enjoy.**_

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_**Talia's POV**_

I can't wait to see Barney again, I haven't seen him in so long, but we always chat online.

I haven't been in New York long, I came to New York from England hoping to be on Broadway, I've told Barney about my farfetched hopes and dreams, and he's been kind enough not to laugh in my face.

Its nice to be back in New York again, I've been staying in a hotel for a couple days and I have got Barney's address so I'm going to surprise him, I just hope that he lets me stay with him.

Until I get an acting job I plan to get a job at that GNB place that Barney mentioned before, I know that Barney works there so I might be able to get him to help me get a job there too.

Barney's apartment is at 211 Madison Avenue, which isn't far from the hotel I have been staying in so it doesn't take me long to walk there.

Wow, this building is huge!

'Knock, knock'

When Barney opens the door he looks surprised to see me, the good kind of surprise, I hope.

"Hey Barney" I say smiling

"Talia! I haven't seen you in so long" Barney says as I pull him into a hug

"I know, can I come in?" I ask hopefully

"Yeah, sure" Barney says moving out of the way to let me in

"Thanks" I say sitting down

"So what brings you to Manhattan?" Barney asks curiously, sitting down next to me

"Well as you know it has always been my dream to become an actress and be on Broadway, but I know that I am going to need a proper job so I was hoping you could get me a job at that bank you work at, GNB" I say, hoping he will be able to help me

"I'll see what I can do, do you have any where to stay?" Barney asks

"I have been staying at a hotel near here, but I wanted to ask if it's not too much trouble, if I could stay here with you?" I ask, if he says no I'm sure I can find a cheap place to say until I can afford somewhere better

"Of course you can" Barney says, he's always been

"Thanks you so much Barney, you're the best" I say hugging him again

"I know" he says smugly

"So are you still with that girl, Shannon?" I ask, he never told me what happened to her

"No, she left me for some guy named Greg" Barney says, suddenly looking really upset

"Well, I never really liked her anyway, and if you ask me she is missing out on a great guy" I says, trying to cheer him up

"Do you wanna head to MacLaren's" Barney asks changing the subject

"Sure" I say, smiling

"I can't wait to meet these friends you've told me about, they sound awesome" I say, getting excited, looking forward to meeting his friends

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_**That is it for now, because I can't think of anything else to write.**_

_**I hope you liked this chapter.**_

_**Review what you think.**_

_**Bye everyone.**_


	2. Flashback time!

_**Hey everyone, here is the next chapter.**_

_**Hope you like.**_

_**Enjoy!**_

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_**Lily's POV**_

Barney walks in here with some girl with dyed red hair, she's wearing gothic clothing and a black wool hat with a silver ribbon thread through the bottom, oh great, I bet Barney is trying to get her into bed, and pretty soon there will be no girl in New York that Barney hasn't hit on or slept with.

Barney starts to walk over here with the girl, weird, usually he doesn't like us to talk to the girls he's trying to hook up with because we scare them off apparently.

"Hey guys, this is Talia" Barney says pointing to the girl

"Hey" Talia says smiling a little

"Hi, can I talk to you quickly Barney" I say, not waiting for an answer, I walk over to the bar

"What?" Barney asks

"Are you trying to sleep with that girl?" I demand, frankly I am getting annoyed with Barney always trying to get into some girls pants

"No! She's my friend Lily, I've known her for years" Barney says, looking kind of grossed out at the thought of sleeping with Talia

"Oh, you never mentioned her before" I say, I wonder why he never told us about her

"You never asked" Barney answers simply, shrugging

"I think we should set her up with Ted" I say grinning, a plan already forming in my mind

"no, you are not going to set my best friend up with Ted, I know for a fact that she does not want to get married any time soon" Barney says before ordering the usual, scotch on the rocks.

We head back to the table where our friends are sitting and I notice Talia has pulled up a stool and is sitting at the end of the table and is talking to Ted about something.

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_**Ted's POV**_

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**-After Lily walked off to the bar with Barney-**

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"Hello Talia, I'm Ted and this is Robin and Marshall" I say politely, gesturing to Robin and Marshall as I say their names

"Hi" both Robin and Marshall say smiling

Talia pulls up a stool from another table and sits at the end.

"Barney has told me so much about you guys" Talia says, drumming her pale fingers on the table

"Really? We haven't heard a thing about you" Robin says, like the rest of us wondering why Barney has never told us about this girl

"Are you his girlfriend or something?" Marshall asks, and I see a look of jealousy on Robin's face at the thought of her being Barney's new girlfriend

"No, I am his best friend, I've known him for almost thirty years" Talia says, fiddling with the ribbon that's thread through her hat

"Wow, what was Barney like all those years ago?" Robin asks, the jealousy gone, instead there is a look of curiosity is in its place

"He was sweet, very smart, I was his only friend, and I met him at his eighth birthday party"

"I thought no one came to his party" I say, remembering when we were helping clean out Barney's childhood house and he had that letter his mum had written for him saying that the invitations he sent out were lost in the mail

"I was the only one there, I arrived half an hour late though, but Barney was so happy that I was there and we hung out every day since then" Talia says, as Barney and Lily head back over here

"Hi, I'm Lily, Marshall's wife" Lily says smiling widely, shaking Talia's hand

"Nice to meet you Lily" Talia says smiling back at her

"Talia was just telling us how she met you Barney" Robin says to Barney as he sat down

"How old were you two when you met?" Lily asks curiously

"I was seven and Barney had just turned eight" Talia says shifting a bit in her seat

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_**-FLASHBACK-**_

'_**Knock, knock'**_

_**A young girl with short, down to her ear, brown hair, wearing a black top and a black and white plaid skirt is standing at the door.**_

"_**Hi, I'm here for Barney's birthday party" the girl says looking kind of nervous**_

"_**Hello dear, Barney is in the other room, I'm sure he will be happy that you've been able to make it" Loretta says pointing to the kitchen.**_

_**The girl walks into the kitchen slowly and cautiously.**_

_**She sees a young Barney sitting at the end of the table looking upset.**_

"_**Hi, I'm Talia, I live across the road from here, sorry I'm thirty minutes late, is anyone else coming to your birthday party?" Talia asks sitting next to Barney**_

"_**No, my mum said that their invitations got lost in the mail" Barney says lifting his head up and looking up at Talia**_

"_**that's weird I got an invitation, maybe the other invitations got lost but mine didn't" Talia says shrugging, probably knowing that the others got the invitation and decided not to come, but she didn't want to upset the boy further on his birthday**_

"_**So when's your birthday?"**_

"_**My birthday is next week, I brought some strawberry laces, want any?" Talia asks pulling a packet of red sweets out of her small bag**_

"_**Yeah there my favourite sweets" Barney says, smiling and grabbing a couple of laces out of the packet**_

"_**Do you want to come to my birthday party next Friday? It's just gonna be me and my friend Sandy" Talia asks hopefully**_

"_**I would love to" Barney says smiling**_

"_**Great, it's gonna be legend- wait for it- dary! Legendary!" Talia shouts happily, before hugging Barney**_

"_**You're awesome!" Barney says loudly**_

"_**Thanks" Talia says**_

_**-END OF FLASHBACK-**_

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"So that's how you came up with that catch phrase" Lily says laughing a little, while Barney has a kind of annoyed look on his face

"I love strawberry laces" Marshall suddenly says, before Barney can get a word in, with a childlike look on his face

"I have some with my right now if you want any?" Talia says to Marshall, offering him three strawberry laces from a packet she has just got out or her plain black messenger bag

"Thanks" Marshall says, delightfully taking and eating the strawberry laces

"Anyone else want any?" Talia asks waving the packet around

"Oh, yes please" I say, grabbing the strawberry laces when she hands them to me

"No thanks" Robin and Lily say when Talia offers them some

"I'm gonna get a drink at the bar, anyone want anything while I'm up there?" Talia asks politely, standing up

"How about that hot blonde chick's number" Barney says staring at the blonde girl with the pink tube top and mini skirt

"You mean the one with the huge rack?" Talia says, now also checking out the girl at the bar

"Yes, hook me with her, do whatever you have to do" Barney says almost drooling now

"Challenge accepted!" Talia says heading over to the girl at the bar

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_**Talia's POV**_

I walk up to the hot girl at the bar, getting ready to get Barney her number.

"Hi there, see the blonde guy in the suit? He's my brother Neil, he has only two more days left to live, he's a virgin and he would kill me if he knew I was telling you this, but I could tell how he was looking at you from across the bar" I say pointing to Barney

"He's hot, and he's a virgin? Hard to believe" the girls says in disbelief, but this still could work

"So will you do me a favour and grant my brother last wish, to get laid by a hot woman?" I ask hopefully, if this works then she is so gullible

"Sure, why not, I've always wanted to be someone's first" the girl says smiling and flicking her blonde hair back, dumb ass

"You're amazing, thank you", I will just go get my brother" I say walking towards Barney to tell him the details he will need

"It worked, she thinks your name is Neil, I'm your sister, you only have two days to live and, oh yeah you're a virgin, ok she's waiting, go!" I say pushing him towards the bar before he can protest anything I've just said

We watch Barney go up to the girl and they talk for a couple of minutes before they start walking out of the bar together

"I can't believe that worked" Marshall says looking shocked

"Me neither" I say, very surprised but also impressed with my work

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_**That's it for now, hope you liked reading this chapter.**_

_**And I hope you are enjoying reading this story so far.**_

_**REVIEW.**_

_**Bye everyone.**_


	3. This movie sucks

_**Hey everyone.**_

_**I know I haven't updated in a while, but here it is.**_

_**I hope you like it.**_

_**Enjoy!**_

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_**Talia's POV**_

Barney and that girl went to her apartment, so I have time to set up the spare room.

The spare room is clean, so clean I doubt anyone else has used this room yet.

I'm glad that the bed spread is all black and the walls are a nice silver, because I would of hated any other colour, well unless it was red, I would like that.

I put my art stuff in the small desk beside me, along with my writing and old audition scripts that either never got used or I used but just never got the part.

I stick a picture of me and Barney as kids in a silver frame and put it beside me on the bedside cabinet.

I love that picture, it was taken on my 8th birthday, and it was only me, him and my friend Sandy at my party.

I read a book for a while before I hear the door opening, I check the time, it's very late, I bet he had fun.

I walk out of the spare room to ask Barney how it went.

"Hey Barney, I'm guessing it went well" I say sitting down on the sofa next to him

"It was awesome" Barney says in his usual 'Im amazing voice'

"I bet it was, wanna watch a movie?" I ask

"Sure how about-" he starts but I know what he is going to say

"No, no star wars" I say strictly, that movie is sooo boring, and he made me watch it a million times when we were younger

"But-" he starts using the voice he always uses when he wants his way

"No, we are not going to watch this movie and that is final" I say stubbornly

"This movie sucks" I say, how the hell did he get me to watch this again?

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_**Ok that is it for now.**_

_**I hope you liked this chapter.**_

_**Bye everyone and as always review!**_


	4. Some are old, some are new

_**Hey everyone.**_

_**Here is the next chapter.**_

_**I hope you like it.**_

_**Enjoy!**_

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_**Talia's POV**_

Its New Years Eve today and Ted is having a party this afternoon.

I have only Barney' friends for a couple days so I was surprised when he asked me to come.

I am so excited, I remember Barney was playing it cool and saying he might be able to make it, but I know that he is just as excited as I am.

I decide to wear a long sleeved black top, a black leather jacket and a pair of black jeans.

I take off my current blue flannel shirt and for a minute I trace the scars on my pale arms with my eyes while standing in front of the mirror that stands beside my bed.

Some are so old, years old in fact, dating back to when I was a teenager, and some are new and fresh, probably only put onto my skin a month ago, maybe less.

While putting on my black, long sleeved t-shirt, I try to ignore one of the many reasons for my scars, my weight.

I have always been a big child, as my mum has said, I always thought she meant I was fat, I still do but she would always say she didn't.

And I have definitely never been a stick, nowhere near.

I've been called obese and fat many times (and many other names that still echo in my head).

I try to ignore the way my belly isn't flat, the way it bulges a little at the bottom, no matter how much I hold it in.

I keep a razor in a locked box that I keep with me at all times and a pair of scissors hidden at the very bottom of my bag, Barney has no idea that I still do it, he thinks I quit years ago, so I make sure to keep them both hidden from him.

But I have a feeling that Barney still does it too, the way he wears his suits all the time and always long sleeved shirts, I've been planning on asking him, as discreetly as possible of course and after the party probably, I dont want him to be pissed on me when we get there.

I take out a snake necklace and a black choker with a devils trap pendant on it, but I can't put it on myself, so I am going to ask Barney to help.

"Hey Barney can you help me with something?" I ask walking into the living room.

"Sure, what is it?" he asks, getting up from the sofa.

"I need help getting these necklaces on" I say, holding out the two necklaces.

He quickly clips on both my necklaces, surprisingly with no trouble.

"Thanks" I say smiling before running back into the guest room.

I quickly brush my shoulder length hair and get started on my makeup, this is going to take a while.

I put on concealer, grey Eyeshadow, black mascara and dark red lipstick.

"I'm ready" I say to myself quietly while looking at myself in the mirror.

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_**Ok that is it for now, I hope you like this chapter.**_

_**Happy new year everyone.**_

_**Dont forget to review.**_

_**Bye everyone. **_


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